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“Personally, I think the decree falls short, I wish we could have greater possibilities of collaboration”, said the Minister of Defense, Mario Overflows, regarding the scope of the Decree 265, which allows the Armed Forces collaborate with civil and police authorities in the fight against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime in the northern border.
This body of law was promulgated on July 9 last year, in the midst of a strong discussion with political sectors that questioned the pertinence of allocating military resources – and procedures – to a traditionally exclusive area of the police force.
The government defended the collaboration, arguing that it would focus on four areas: surveillance, logistics, technology and transportation.
More than a year after the validity of this legal body, the Ministry of Defense made its first balance. It was reported that since the promulgation of the decree, 1,692 tasks to the Armed Forces, of which 1,504 have been executed, with 89% compliance. For this, it has been used 4,500 personnel, have been used 150 logistical means and 25,000 km of border have been traveled.
93% of the collaboration of the Armed Forces the police has consisted of atechnological supports, 5.5% are logistical support and 1.5%, transportation props, It was indicated from the Secretary of State.
In procedures where there was some type of participation of military personnel, 4,386 kilos of drugs and they fell apart five criminal organizations, with 49 people arrested by the Drug Law. In addition, more than 1,400 containers.
More than a year after Decree 265 was issued, the balance is very positive. We were witnesses, because I was a deputy at that time, of the controversy that occurred when it was announced. The opposition said there would be serious consequences, human rights violations, all kinds of outrages, but after a year there is not a single complaint. The decree has been very well used and the work that our Armed Forces have done in collaboration with the police has been extraordinarily positive.
Mario Desbordes, Minister of Defense
Desbordes also highlighted that “the numbers speak for themselves. More than four thousand kilos of drugs seized, five criminal organizations broken up, 49 detained by the Drug Law and so on. a series of other data that show that this collaboration is not only positive, but effective, because it produces results and, most importantly, it must be maintained over time ”.
It is estimated that about 64% of the illegal drugs that enter Chile do so through the northern border, where another problem also occurs: the proliferation of criminal organizations dedicated to the smuggling of migrants. In Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá and Antofagasta, in fact, there are 11 steps enabled against 209 steps not enabled (72 on the border with Peru and 137 on the border with Bolivia).
In more than 23 thousand hours of patrol (6,315 at sea and 17,359 on land) it helped to detect 3,110 illegal crossings during 2020. In addition, a cadastre was carried out with the geographical location and data of all the private and / or uncontrolled aerodromes of the North Macrozone.
The UDI deputy Osvaldo Urrutia, member of the Chamber’s Defense Commission, pointed out that “the figures fully justify the collaborative work between the Armed Forces. and the police, which has served to prevent a greater occurrence of drug and human trafficking along our extensive and permeable northern border. This experience will allow to improve even more the coordination and use of the media ”.
They are DC Gabriel Ascencio he took more distance and stated that “everything indicates that the Safe Border Plan has not met the objectives that were in place at the time it began; It seems that it is a great expenditure of resources with much lower results. As the Budget Law comes, we want to make a serious evaluation of the program ”.
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